The girl who changed everything
by IrailEssenceRue
Summary: Harry Potter AU. Begins the summer before third year from the perspective of a Slytherin. With no family left and a summer spent with Hagrid, How will Rue cope being back at Hogwarts? With Draco Malfoy as an ally and the Death Eaters watching their every turn Hogwarts is sure to change.
1. Chapter 1

_Wizards fire blazed an inferno around my body, the excruciating pain was unbearable as the trails of fire seeped into my skin. Screaming my dying aunt's name as the blue fire crept up from my torso around my neck. Only the Locomotor Mortis curse kept me on my feet. _

I jerked awake ringing for a nurse, my body temperature much higher than it had been for several weeks. The St. Mungos nurse who had been looking after me for months now poured a most revolting potion into my mouth, thick and bitter it felt like tar going down my throat. I coughed hard and tears sprang to my eyes.

A great start to my release day. After seven months in hospital and coming back from the brink of death I was left with no living relatives and no home to return to. I had lived with my aunt for as long as I could remember and now that she was gone, I had no one left. Feelings of loneliness tried to break through and I struggled to hold them back. Everything would be okay, it had to be.

I stood on my blackened legs, which like everywhere from my neck down would take many more months to fully heal even with daily potions, and slowly changed into my muggle clothes. My jumper hung like a tent around me and i had to use a belt to keep my trousers in place, after all these months I felt like I had wasted away into nothing.

Until Professor Dumbledore visited my bedside three months after the fight, I had felt like I was nothing. I had missed most of the second Term of my second year at Hogwarts and knew I would not be allowed to return. On the first day of April this changed. Albus Dumbledore sat beside my burnt body and told me that he would do whatever it takes to help me to continue with my studies at Hogwarts. I read books and studied for my exams every day until I could no longer. A week before i was due to travel to Hogwarts for the end of year exams, I received an owl from Professor Snape, head of my house, that final year exams were cancelled and I would be starting my third year at Hogwarts with all the other students in September.

I wasn't popular at school and I didn't stand out much either except on the qudditch pitch. I had been playing beater during the time I was in second year for the house team. I already knew i wouldn't be allowed to play in matches in my third year, i doubted it would stop me practising though. The Slytherins all liked me, always loyal to their own. I had no doubts in my mind that Slytherin was my family.

Kingsley Shacklebolt entered my private room. I turned at the noise as the nurse rushed in behind him, an arm full of paperwork.

"Here to transport you to Hogwarts Miss Canagan. May i say you look almost well!" His smile filled the room and made the nurse signing the release forms blush. His robe's were bright and exotic and made me half smile at him in return. I had met Kingsley once before, the minister for magic had sent him to give his consolations after the accident. I'd had a lot of potions and could only remember that he seemed friendly.

"Are you ready? You travelled by side along apparition before?"

I nodded.

I picked up my small blue shoulder bag, magically expanded and lightweight. It had been a gift from my aunt when I first started school. I looked around the empty room I had spent so long in and thanked the nurse for her care. Sometimes I was still surprised to be alive. The moment I took hold of Kingsley's awaiting arm my feet stumbled on the cobbles of Hogsmeade. I winced and his hold on my arm tightened, the sick feeling in my stomach already starting to disappear.

I looked up to the horizon and took a deep breath of country air. Hogwarts loomed over us, casting a shadow on the grounds in front, the evening sun silhouetting the castle. I was home.

Arriving at the school gates i was met by the large scale of Hagrid. Freshly released from Azkaban he looked a little worse for wear. I was somewhat bitter about staying with a giant for the rest of the summer, it wouldn't be received well when I went back to school but anything would be better than two more months at St. Mungos.

"Hullo Kingsley, Good te see ya Rue" He looked down to the two of us.

I said nothing, distaste showing on my features. Hagrid chose to ignore my expression.

"I heard the good news Hagrid. Congratulations, you will make an excellent care of magical creatures teacher! I couldn't think of anyone better for the job." Kingsley turned back towards Hogsmeade and disappeared from view. On the walk to the gates he had told me about an important meeting he must attend right away at the Three Broomsticks.

As we walked silently to his hut, a mass of grey fur ran headlong towards me. I almost took a step backwards until I saw the green glint of the big cat's eyes.

"WOLF!" I yelled in glee, the cat racing to a stop before me, ready to be petted and hugged to make up for lost time. I stroked the excited cat and looked up towards Hagrid.

"Thank you for looking after her for me." The residual hate I felt for the giant began to dissaperate, my beautiful Norwegian Tabby was healthy and happy as ever.

I quickly settled in to the small room which had been added to the back of Hagrid's hut. I placed the book's Dumbledore had given me to study from onto the shelf and tied my green and silver house scarf around the hooks by the doorway. The bare brick walls reminded me fondly of the slytherin dormitories. I guess I would get used to the giant oaf eventually.

The first month of summer passed quickly, helping Hagrid with his magical creatures and reassuring him that he would make a good teacher. I quickly took to cooking to avoid Hagrid's rock solid scones, and began to look a little more like my old self again. As a welcome gift Hagrid had produced a second hand Cleansweep and I was delighted. Almost all my things had been lost from before the accident, broom included. I began to practise daily being very unsteady at first, I soon recovered some lost confidence.

On the first day of August, an tawny owl landed beside me. I had been on the vegetable patch sprinkling flesh eating slug repellent around Hagrid's summer cabbages. Taking the letter clasped in its beak, I petted the owls head. I recognised it to belong to the Malfoys. A grin spread across my face.

**A/N - Please review and let me know if I should continue! X**


	2. Chapter 2

_Heard you will be returning to Hogwarts, Meet us in Diagon Alley for school supplies on the 29th of August? _

_Draco M._

My stomach tingled, Draco Malfoy was asking me to go supply shopping with him? I would have thought he would go with Pansy, they're always whispering to each other in hushed tones. I blushed to myself, maybe he likes me! An image of his slick silky hair and his quidditch toned muscles appeared in my mind. A lot can happen in eight months, I'd soon find out exactly how much!

I pulled a small mirror out of my pocket and held it up. My cheeks looked hollow, my face pale and my eyes so dull. The burn marks on my neck were still so noticeable, it looked like a bunch of snakes tails disappearing under my shirt. What if Draco thinks I'm not so pretty now? I pulled my hair forward, shoving the mirror deep into my pocket before a tear escaped my eyes. I stretched my hands out in front of me, they were the oddest shade of grey. Everyone said they would return to normal with time, that they weren't so bad because I had been reaching out of the flames towards my aunt. Trying to save her.

I rushed into the Forbidden Forest to a clearing just beyond the tree line where Hagrid intended to hold his classes. He threw a dead ferret at a grey spotted hippogriff. I stopped dead in my tracks remembering everything Hagrid had told me about how hippogriff were proud creatures.

"Hagrid." The hippogriff slowly backed away before loping away into the forest. Hagrid let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, I know you've been having trouble with them. I was just really excited." I hung my head feeling bad for his lost efforts. The giant really had grown on me in the last month. He looked to the letter in my hand.

"Wut's that?" I held out the letter to him. He read with a frown on his face.

Four weeks later I sat opposite Narcissa Malfoy in The Leaky Cauldron. So far I caught 6 men and 4 women staring at me, I mentally added a summer scarf to the list of things I wanted to buy. One woman who I had never met came up to me to say how sorry she was about my aunts death. I turned to look at the wall, ignoring her. They don't get it.

A pouch of galleons sat heavily in my pocket and potions ingredients already filled my bag. I was incredibly happy to have a brand new wand in my possession, the wizards fire had completely destroyed my original wand. Finishing my butter beer and eager to end our awkward silence, I stood.

"Can we go to Flurish and Blotts? There's so many books I need to buy! I need to replace my first year books and second year books and get my third year books and the extra ones I added to my list." Narcissa nodded and led the way out of the filthy bar. Draco and his father had disappeared into Knockturn Alley as soon as we left the Apothecary. I had tried to follow but Narcissa called me back, earning herself a deadly glare.

Browsing the shelves in the book shop I could hear high pitched laughter and turned to see Hermione Granger and Harry potter laughing as a second year was almost eaten alive by a Monster Book of Monsters.

"Stroke the spine!" They shouted in unison seeing the many warning signs around the shop.

Draco and Lucius Malfoy stormed in and shot them both pure looks of disgust.

"Potter, Mudblood." Lucius moved behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder. Potters gaze turned to me and his eyes went wide. "Didn't your daddy ever teach you not to stare potter?" Potter dropped his gaze to the floor. "I guess not." Lucius sneered as the Griffindors scurried out of the shop.

I'd heard in St. Mungos that Potter had defeated an embodiment of the Dark Lord. I was pretty sure it wasn't true. Wearing his taped up glasses and oversized muggle clothes, Potter didn't look like he could kill a fly. My aunt had always told me it would take a lot more than a curse to kill someone of such great power. I believed her.

At Malfoy Manor Draco showed me to the spare room next to his. I would be staying with them for the night as Hagrid would be away trying to find a prospective homeless first year Dumbledore was struggling to track down. The whole house crept with a cold chill which felt rather homely and good on my ever warm skin. I put my hand to the right side of my neck and felt the warmth of the blackened skin.

"Does it hurt?" Draco asked, sitting on the bed beside me, not even looking at me.

"Not like it did." I pulled my wavy blonde hair forward to cover my neck.

"Oh." Just as it seemed he might say something more Narcissa arrived at the doorway.

"Lucius would like to talk to you Rue, in his study." My head churned with thoughts of what I might have done wrong. I got up quickly to go.

"What am I supposed to do while Father steals my friend mother?" Draco yelled jumping to his feet.

"Sit down Draco darling, I thought we might catch up before you go back to school tomorrow." Draco pulled a surly face but sat down obediently. As I reached the door way Narcissa moved aside. "Four doors down on the left dear." I nodded and walked down the portrait filled corridor.

I entered the study after knocking firmly on the door. Lucius sat behind a great mahogany desk surrounded by trophies and amulets, showing his wealth.

"Do take a seat Rue, you can go back to Draco soon enough." I dropped into a cold black leather armchair and instantly put a hand under my chin as if to say 'I'm bored, cant I go now?' I looked straight at his glimmering blue eyes.

"I do hope so, he was on the verge of asking about the accident, always my favourite topic." I sneered sarcastically.

Not acknowledging anything I had just said, he turned and slammed a heavy parcel on the desk. He carefully untied the bindings and pulled off the paper before folding back the fine royal blue silk cloth. A book. It looked ancient, there was no visible title. Easily 500 pages of thick parchment, it looked as though it had began life long before the first wizards war.

"This is the Book of Knights" He began. "Originally it was written in 1960 by the Dark Lord himself. However since then it has been written on and improved upon as the years have passed and the book has switched hands of ownership. It's most previous owner was in fact your aunt Amelia Canagan. I myself recovered the book from Canagan Place. Intended to be gifted to you upon your thirteenth birthday which was of course many months ago, along with an explanation of your aunts position within the wizarding world. A traitor to the original order of the phoenix, Dumbledore's army who fought the Dark Lords regime, she became very close to the Dark Lord and as you know Severous Snape. Not long before the scar was given to Potter in Godrics Hollow your aunt received this book and a letter. The letter, although long lost was known to say that she must learn from the book and accept its challenges within." Lucius paused in thought. "Although the Dark Lord is not necessarily currently at large, his followers still remain strong. The passing of your aunt encouraged us to maintain a focus on the next generation of followers, to guide them down the correct path and create a power within them." He pushed the book towards me. "This book is a great responsibility and you must learn from it and keep it hidden. Should a member of the order find it we would all be doomed." I stared at him like he had lost his mind.

"This isn't a joke is it? It's not a very funny one if you ask me." I leant forwards putting my elbows on the desk. His face looked nothing if not serious. "Fine, I'll take the book." I wrapped it up quickly and pushed it into my blue shoulder bag, glad the bag never weighed more than a few pounds no matter how much I crammed in there.

"Do as I say and you may find yourself one day within the closest ranks of the most powerful wizard alive."

It had never much occurred to me that my aunt was anything other than loyal to the Dark Lord. We were pureblood and proud, my aunt always eager to battle our foes, purify the race and aid our allies in any way she could. Although, she had once told me that she was a Griffindor. I had pulled a face and said she was nothing of the sort. Maybe the sorting hat had got it wrong, all her friends were from the Slytherin house. Personally I had no doubts in my mind about siding with the Dark Lord. I had been brought up in full knowledge what he was the greatest wizard to ever have lived and that he deserved nothing less than our upmost loyalty and respect.

"Another thing Rue. A strong friendship with Draco would do good to the cause. Slytherins must stick together." He looked to the window in thought. "You're welcome back here for the holidays should you choose. That giant is a member of the Order you know. Now go find Draco, I'm sure dinner will be ready by now."

**A/N Please review, let me know if i should continue! **


	3. Chapter 3

_Wizards fire blazed an inferno around my body. The eye of my opponent glaring a hole into my sole as I reached for my dying aunt._

I woke, someone tugging at me. Still lost in a nightmare I had to force my eyes to open. Narcissas gentle concerned face above me looked quite fuzzy in front of my damp eyes.

"Rue, It's just a bad dream, you're okay." Okay for her to say. I took a deep breath and pulled the bedding off of me. I needed to cool down. I pulled my blue bag up off the floor and rummaged until I found a small green bottle of potion. A sip later and feeling cooler, I glanced back up to Narcissa and noticed Draco stood in the doorway.

"Sorry, I thought the dreams had stopped." She shook her head.

"It's no bother. It's a little early for the house elves but I'm sure we can rustle up some breakfast."

It turned out that Narcissa was an excellent pancake maker, even if the only thing she lifted was her wand. I hadn't had pancakes since I was last at school. Draco demolished a tower of lemon drizzle ones and then helped me with my syrup stack. I was certain that pancakes were not an everyday occurrence in Malfoy Manor.

On the train back to Hogwarts later that same day, I reflected that Narcissa did seem like a genuinely good and caring person. Lucius gave me the creeps, but with such a hard demeanor I'd be surprised if there was anyone who didn't feel the same way. I sat in a compartment opposite Pansy by the window with Draco to my left and Draco's cronies to Pansy's right. I was excited for the start of school, It felt like an eternity since I was last in classes before the Christmas holidays. Starting third year also meant I had gotten to choose two new additional classes, I chose Arithmancy and Care of magical creatures. You would not believe how much I was ready to put this new wand to the test. My spell casting was the best in the year by far, even Granger with all her brains wouldn't beat me in a duel. Well, maybe that was a little much to say at the time, I may have needed a few weeks to work off the rust from the last eight months. Still, I was confident I'd be back on top form before the Griffindors could say quidditch.

The Hogwarts Express roared through the day and into the misty evening. Pansy's fawning over Draco was beginning to get on everybody's nerves. 'Your hair is so lush Draco' 'Your skin is so clear Draco' 'I love the way you smile Draco'. I was just about to tell her to give it a rest when the train rumbled to a halt. The train grew colder and darker as the moments passed. Personally I found it a relief, the train was quite stifling even with the window open. I looked around to see worried faces, Crabbe particularly looked like he was going to cry. Worst Slytherin if ever I saw one, frightened by a little darkness. The windows began to ice over as Draco's hand found mine. Pansy moved closer to Goyle, letting out a small whimper. The train had never broken down before but there's always a first for everything.

"I'll go look around, maybe there was something on the track." I let go of Draco's hand, jumping up.

"But.." I had left the compartment before he could stop me. Brave as Draco was on the exterior, the interior was surely not quite as sturdy. Walking towards the front of the train I could see everyone huddled in their compartments as if waiting for the dead to rise. They were awful scared for magic folks, in fact I was sure I'd seen braver muggles. I pulled out my wand.

"Lumos." A light glowed at the end. I was fond of my new wand, bought from Gregorovitch in Diagon Alley. Hawthorn, 12 inches with a core of Thestral tail hair. Slightly whippy I was told but also very powerful in both offensive and defensive skills. Hawthorn also has healing properties which was particularly perfect for me. The end of the wand which I held had an engraved pattern which looked like branches of a tree but allowed for an extra steady grip.

"oooooooo" I looked up at the groan, a ten foot humanoid black ripped cloth figure with hollowed eye sockets was less than two feet from me. It was pretty creepy, I admit. I wracked my brain quickly as to what this thing was and how to get rid of it. Nothing came up. I tried making hissing noises, they sure would make Wolf run fast. Granted, Wolf is just a regular cat, even if he is extraordinary and precious to me.

"Hsssssssssss" It moved towards me, I stood my ground. Hagrid told me that magical creatures tend to respect people more if they stand their ground. The hooded creature seemed to almost look at me for a moment before it whooshed towards me. A feeling of intense cold flooded me and quickly deserted me as the creature passed through my body.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM" A voice bellowed from ahead. The creature was forced through the door of the end of the carriage by a bursting stream of silver light. I looked around to see where the voice had come from. A ragged blonde haired man, old enough to be a teacher walked towards me with a limp and a confounded look on his face. "That is something I have never seen. What's your name?" He tried hard not to stare as he noticed the black marks on my neck. I had no doubt he knew who I was. The accident had been all over the Daily Prophet.

"Rue Canagan, Sir." I slid my wand back up my sleeve into its holder.

"Professor Remus Lupin, Defence against the dark arts teacher. Potter fainting is more probable than.. Never mind. I want you to come see me, first period tomorrow morning."

"But Sir.." He had turned to leave.

"First thing, Miss Canagan" He disappeared back into a compartment.

I stalked back to the compartment I had been in. The lights flicked back on and the train slowly began to move once again. I took a few deep breaths in an attempt to let my anger defuse. I didn't want to miss my first class back in favour of talking to a teacher about some creature walking through me. It was my first class in nine months. Was he crazy? I slammed the door open and sat back in my seat.

"What happened Rue? I saw a flash of light." Pansy asked in her oh so calm yet annoying voice.

"Nothing." I lied. "Potter fainted seeing some black hooded creature."

Draco Laughed. "Well we won't be letting him live that one down now will we Goyle?" He turned to his friend doing impressions of Potter fainting.

After Introducing Professor Remus Lupin, Professor Dumbledore addressed two further new arrivals at the staff table.

"I would be honored to introduce our new healing staff. Professors Olwyn Niquell and Advell Coolwater. A new healing class is introduced this year in light of recent events. This class will be a third year additional choice class and there will only be two available places per house per year. Newt exams for this subject will qualify the participant as a Healer. If anyone is interested in this class do mention it to your head of house during timetable distribution over breakfast. And remember, things will only be given to those at Hogwarts who both ask for it and deserve it. Let's eat." When the food appeared on the tables in the Great Hall it looked almost as grand as the last time I had seen it at the Christmas feast.

**A/N - Hopefully upload a couple chapters each week. Working six days each week can be a killer on the creative mind. Please Review! :)**


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